Sorta semi-almost, might contain spoilers, so be warned

Rating: 9/10 (22 July 2005)

Waking up earlier than I normally do on a summer day (a high school student such as myself leads a nocturnal existence), I hoped that "The Island" would be worth sacrificing a few hours of beauty sleep. Thankfully, it was. Director Michael Bay is notorious for directing big-budget action flicks, as obvious in "Armageddon". "The Island" is no exception. At times the film was chock-full of exciting action. The car chase sequence involving the hunt for Lincoln Six Echo and Jordan Two Delta (Ewan McGregor and Scarlett Johansson) by Albert Laurent (Djimon Hounsou) and his minions does not rival the one of "The Matrix"...it exceeds it. Just watching a bunch of high dollar SUVs and sedans, some not even released to the public yet, being pulverized was the highlight of the entire sequence. The story itself wasn't bad either. It was an original enough idea that doesn't remind one of another movie. Lincoln Six Echo's quest to discover the truth behind the so-called island was quite an interesting one. It was also funny at times, especially in scenes with Steve Buscemi's character McCord. The scene where Echo and Delta enter the desert bar looking for McCord for answers is quite amusing, especially when Echo is inquiring about what McCord is doing "in the can". The audience was about as amused as I was as evidenced by the laughter that ensued when Echo was repeating what the bartender was saying. Overall, I think this movie is worth seeing if you enjoy high-energy action sequences or even science fiction/fantasy flicks. It's not heavy on the science fiction, but it is slightly noticeable but not enough to make it a corny movie. Ewan McGregor was perfect for this role, as was Scarlett Johansson. I hate to admit it, but although McGregor was good in "Star Wars Episode III - Revenge of The Sith" (which is saying something considering the acting in that movie was not at all great), he was so much better in "The Island". I really can't compare Johansson's work to her other movies as I am not much of a fan of hers, but I am a big Ewan McGregor fan and I will definitely recommend this one to other McGregor fans.